The electrical connector shown in FIG. 8 (see JP9-259965A), for example, is a known electrical connector that protects the contact sections of the contacts during the twist-insertion of a mating connector.
This electrical connector 101 shown in FIG. 8 comprises an insulating housing 110 and contacts 120 that are attached to the housing 110 in a plurality of rows.
The housing 110 is formed by molding an insulating material, and has a cavity 111 that accommodates a mating connector (not shown in the figure). a plurality of protective walls 112 that extend from the bottom portion of the cavity 111 and that are integrally provided with the housing 110 protrude into the interior of this cavity 111. Furthermore, a plurality of rows of guide walls 113 that extend from the bottom portion of the cavity 111 and that are integrally provided with the housing 110 protrude into the interior of this cavity 111.
Meanwhile, each contact 120 is formed by stamping and forming a metal plate, and comprises a supported section 121 that is supported by the housing 110, a flexible contact section 122 that extends from one end of the supported section 121 and that is formed by bending, and a terminal leg 123 that extends from the other end of the supported section 121 and that is connected to a circuit board (not shown in the figure). The contact sections 122 are designed to be contacted by the contacts (not shown in the figure) that are provided on the mating connector. Furthermore, portions of each contact section 122 and the supported section 121 in a range corresponding to the contact section 122-are accommodated in an contact receiving area 112a that is formed on the corresponding protective wall 112 of the housing 110. As a result, it is possible to protect the contact sections 122 of the contacts 120, which are the most susceptible to damage by twist-insertion of the mating connector.
However, problems have been encountered in this conventional electrical connector 101. Specifically, when the mating connector is twisted inside the cavity 111 of the housing 110 during the mating of the mating connector, there are cases in which the protective walls 112 made of plastic are damaged as a result of the mating connector contacting the tip ends of these protective walls 112, resulting in damage to the contact sections 122 of the contacts 120.